|
I understand this is the recruitment thread but i'm looking at starting a PBP that includes several facets of high fantasy.
Airships, Firearms, Magic and varying amounts of steam power may or may not be present depending on where the PC’s start off. The PC's have a number of different places to start at and it will affect where exactly they may eventually end up. I will also accept most 3rd party products, such as Supergenius Games, so long as I own a copy of the material wanting to be used.
I am also looking for the most votes on starting level as well. I am looking at starting between 1st or 6th level.
I have seen successful campaign’s start at lvl 1 but the levels tend to drag out and so if people convince me to start the party off at lvl 1 then I will plan the adventure for that level and hopefully have something posted in due course. Lvl 6-7 also broadens players abilities to craft a character they can enjoy from the get go and not spend months waiting for that ‘next level’.
I like the randomness of dice and I am borrowing the idea of high powered rolling from DM Downrightamazed. As I would like to see people actually play heroes and not get hosed up by poor dice rolls.
So rolling will be as followed:
For each attribute, roll 4d6, dropping the lowest die. If you rolled less than a 7, re-roll, i.e., 7 is the minimum allowed attribute score.
In addition, roll 7 attribute scores and drop the lowest. Assign attribute scores as you will.
Alternately, you may employ "epic rules" and roll 1d3+15 for any attribute
you choose, BUT for every attribute you roll this way, you must roll
one other attribute as 1d10+6. So let's say you're rolling a
sorcerer(ess). You would probably want to roll 1d3+15 for your
charisma, and then take 1d10+6 for maybe strength or dex, leaving your
other attributes as standard rolls.
The Demi-human races are long gone, only remnants of Elven, Dwarven, Halfing or other demi-human kind remain. Many left the world through unknown means, tired of Humanities ceaseless violence and war. Once they were gone though much of the worlds highest magics and knowledge left with them and left it too weak to reverse the coming Armageddon.
The characters will start off on their dying home world, the apocalypse has come and everyone is scrambling to survive or find some way to escape. Among the many natural and unnatural catastrophe's occurring in the world, the dead have risen and a vast army is sweeping across the land. Snuffing out what few kingdoms and empires that have remained cohesive despite the end times. Along with this undead army comes the forces of Cryx (Iron Kingdom Reference and awesome name), a nation comprised of some of the darkest necromancers and ruled by Lich kings and a foul godlike dracolich.
As armies continue to wage endless war in the air, on the high seas and on foot it seems as if there is no hope in sight. No escape from what looks to be certain death. That was until the gates were erected. Harnessing the highest of magics, the high clerics and mages of the few remaining lands created portals to lands unknown. The gates harnessed the naturally occurring 'ripples' that appeared every few years and seemed to tear through the veil between worlds. If the ripples were large enough that you could glimpse another world, one far different from their own on the otherside. It was known that some had passed through to these other worlds but the ripples only stay open for a short time and sadly no one has ever returned...
This isn't a recruitment, just testing the water and hopefully I will have the start to my campaign up and going in a couple of weeks. Thank you for feedback!
I'm intrigued by it - and would posit that 4th Level would serve as a good starting point. All primary casters get 2nd level spells, and the martials are getting into the meat and potatoes of what makes them, them.
|
|
Thank you for your feedback Mark! I will make a note of what you said and your right 4th Level isn't a bad start point. Gives the players a little more wiggle room and their not down and out in only a couple small encounters.
Races: Mainly Human, Will post the varying stats for each. Other Races are available but are extremely rare so a full party of elves or other demi-humans will be very rare. Especially if you hail from the Imperium of Man.
The five Kingdoms
These kingdoms are the greatest kingdoms known throughout the world and many pay homage to them, especially smaller kingdoms that are unable to resist invasion from the neighboring empires.
The Imperium of Man –
Existed prior to the departure of the demi-humans and was born from the ashes of the Bright Empire. The Imperium of Man started when the Bright Empire started falling apart during the beast wars. The hordes of barbaric goblinoids, backed by countless inhuman allies, tore The Bright Kingdom apart from within. They laid siege to the City of Light, the first castle city that herald the rise of the greatest Human Empire ever known, was laid siege to for the first time in a millennia and was completely annihilated by the barbaric hordes. When the City of Light fell, so did the leadership of the Empire and the royal family. Without their leaders the Bright Army fell to infighting, as generals grasped for power and abandoned the populace to fend for themselves. Out of the Disorder appeared the first High Lord Inquisitor, he converted or killed any officer that refused to serve Mankind and wrested control of a large portion of the scattered armies and brought the fight to the horde.
With a massive army, the power of his god and unending wrath the High Lord Inquisitor carved out the beginning territories of the Imperium as he trampled the bodies of his enemies beneath his armored heel. Soon after the hordes dispersed, the High Lord became the first ruler of the Imperium and began waging war on any who were not Human. Elves, Dwarves, Halfing and all demi-humans were put down with fire and blade as the Inquisitors crushed any who resisted their rising dominance, especially because none of them aided the Imperium in its time of hardship, so why should they escape judgement. No all would be judged like the beastmen, all who were inhuman would be put down.
”Bring Death to the Beastmen, Purge the In-Human and convert the rebellious through flame and blade. We are the Imperium of Man and all shall kneel and obey or die beneath our heel.”
Major Classes that Call the Imperium Home:
Inquisitor, Cavalier, Gunslinger
The Kingdom of Lyonesse –
Broke away from the Bright Empire during the goblin wars and seized control of their original territories while their former conqueror fractured under the strain of rebellion and in its war’s abroad. It wasn’t until almost a decade had past that the newly risen Imperium of Man came to invade Lyonesse and found themselves facing a nation of religious zealots who had turned the mountain range around their homeland into a never ending field of holy bastions and forts that kept watch over the mountain passes, along with Airships powered by their insurmountable faith. The Term ‘Flying Fortress’ was invented by the Lyonnessian’s because they did not only create powerful airships but created grand castle cathedrals that could fly as well to defend their large coastline from the depredations of their many enemies.
Classes that Hail from Lyonesse:
Clerics, Magus and other spellcaster types.
The Empire of Qin
Ruled by the Qin-Yung Dynasty for over ten generations, this empire is a place where solidarity among its ruling classes and a system of Bushido has kept their people strong and resilient to invasion. Everyone in Qin must join the army to prove their man and woman hood and previous invasions were met with fierce resistance from the population long before the national army had arrived. Honor Duels and Ritual suicide to protect ones honor are well known among neighboring kingdoms, some see the traditions that Qin revere to be both barbaric and wasteful. But for this small empire, it has protected and strengthened their way of life for generations.
Warriors known as the Shugenja (Arcane and Divine Casters), Samurai and Ninja hail from this homeland and both are lethal warriors despite the fact that their fighting styles are completely different. The Samurai truly live to the code of Bushido, unlike the normal practices of their homeland these warriors take it to a new level. Fearless, Honor bound and Lethal are words that kingdoms use for this pair of Qin Warriors.
Cygnus –
Cygnus is home to Pegasi, Dragonriders and some of the finest Airship Captain’s ever known. During the Collapse of the Bright Empire Cryx invaded this southern province and kidnapped the family of Lord Rennor, along with thousands of citizens. Distraught over the loss of his wife and children he withdrew his armies from the front and returned to find his provinces ravaged by Cryxian raiders and wandering undead. With wrath fueling his actions Lord Rennor cleansed his homeland and waged open war with Cryx, despite the fact that his kingdom was only a fraction of the size of Cryx. He eventually broke away from the flagging Bright Empire when they were unable to help their loyal vassal and he started his war by completely annihilating the city of Blackwater, a major Cryxian port, with his powerful Airship Armada when he invaded to reclaim his wife and son. It was the only time in Cryxian history that they had suffered defeat, over a half million souls were rescued that day and bolstered Cygnus into becoming a true threat to Cryx.
Cygnus has continued this war unabated for over a decade and its people are a hardy lot, intent on bringing Cryx low no matter the cost. They are known as major producers of military grade airships and high quality weapons.
Classes that Call Cygnus home:
All, except for Inquisitors.
Cryx –
The Nightmare Empire, ruled by the dead. Yet home to both the dead and living. Life has no meaning here as the meat markets are full of slaves and corpses bought and sold to evil beings, necromancers and other foul practitioners of the dark arts. The black ships of Cryx are known to raid coastlines, battlefields and ancient ruins in search of valuables. Necrotite is the most sought after item among Cryxian’s as it powers most of their war machines and is a major power source for necromantic rituals within their empire.
Not much else is known about this terrible empire because none of the existing kingdoms, except Cygnus, have ever come into direct conflict with Cryx. It is believed that Cryx is ruled by the same Lich Lords that lead its armies and that the ultimate leader is an immensely powerful and enormous Dracolich that is rumored to have godlike abilities. In all recorded history this dracolich has been seen a handful of times and each time he has left destruction in his wake, leaving entire cities burning wreckages of their former selves.
If you see the blood red sails of a Cryxian Blackship, your best and only option is too run full sail and pray that they don’t catch you. Because where there is one of these foul ships,. There are usually more lurking in somewhere nearby.
Most of Cryx’s economy is fueled by stolen goods, slave trade and the creation of newer, more deadly necromantic weapons.
Classes that hail from Cryx:
All, Neutral (rare) / Evil Alignment’s only
|
I'd be interested in giving this a shot. I would agree with Mark that Level 4 would be a good starting point. When I run my homebrew game, I usually start my players at Level 5 for the same reasons stated by Mark. Levels 1-5 are usually the 'grind levels'.
Of course I get back to work after my days off and they prove to me that my workload is going to force me to step out of another great PBP. My vote stands though that Level 4 is always a good starting point, but I do have to back out.
Seems like I'm doing that a lot more than I want to recently...
Count me interested (apocolypse settings are my favorite) and I vote for starting level at 4th or higher for the same reasons Mark and Severed stated.
Colour me intrigued. Let's see where the dice land.
So the array would be: 16, 16, 14, 13, 12, 11. Equivalent to 31 point buy. Nice. I'm in for applying, should you choose to run it.
hmm.....
I also would like to apply...
quick question: what is allow for SGG classes? what other 3rd party books do you own?
|
With permission, i'll propose a Lore Warden Archetype Fighter if you recruit, probably hailing from Cygnus. I'm really liking the sound of the setting so if you are going to open recruitment, color me very interested.
Strength epic roll
Constitution paired roll
Intelligence epic roll
Charisma paired roll
Dexterity epic roll
Wisdom paired roll
Edit: Wow... two tens on the D10's. Beautiful. I was scared i'd end up with a 7 con hulk.
|
|
I own all of the SGG classes materials, I have no real issues with any of them. All of them are fairly balanced, although I have a rebuild of the dragonrider I am working on and hope to playtest at some point.
I have quite a few 3rd ppt books so it would be hard to name them all, lol.
If you post what you would like or prefer to play, I could then look through my materials more easily, you can Pm me as well with what you want to do that's fine. :)
and it gives me a reason to (ab)use PMing So awesome to have that now =)!
===============================
@Everyone: looks like 4th level is looking fairly popular! Which is good I was hoping to avoid lvl 1~ So I can plan something fun and challenging without completely wearing people down in a couple of fights. =)
As I stated before it may take me some time to get up and going. But I will try and keep this thread alive until I start my campaign.
Cool, let's go for it!
Very interested!
I've never played an arcane caster, so I think this would be a good chance to try it out. I'll start thinking about it a little more, should you choose to run it.
I would love to play a steam punk Artificer type from Cygnus, crazy ship engineer type. Tome of Secrets has that class.
This souns pretty cool, I'd be interested in playing something from Dreamscarred Press' Psionics Unleashed/Psionics Advanced.
Count me interested for sure, seems like a really interesting concept for a world ((post-)apocalyptic, settings are always fun).
Based on dice rolls, I'll submit a character concept:
Wow, 18,17,17,14,14,13 pretty snazy, the options!
I would definitely be interested. Your setting seems pretty well thought out and it leaves a lot of hooks for quests and general adventuring. If/when this becomes a recruitment thread I'll be sure to submit an entry.
4th level seems a good place to start.
Rolling for a possible Samurai, dropping one of the 4d6 rolls.
So after dropping the lowest 4d6 (8) and the lowest die from the other 4d6 that give me an array of: 18, 17, 15, 14, 11, 10. That is pretty awesome.
I'll work out a full character and concept tonight or tomorrow (or whenever)
|
I think he isn't looking for dice rolling char creation yet...
I don't know what kind of firearms you are going to use, but I use some a bit different that come from IK and d20 Modern.
I wish I had more time, since this is very interesting but I probably cannot join
level 3 or 4 sound about right, even when I start a campaign from level 1 I make it a breeze to get to level 3 or 4 since it is when the players are actually getting somewhere with their characters and begin to truly flesh them out.
I would be a ninja ^^ because it is fun to be sneaky and invisible.
Now don't go making warjacks...
I would like to join your campaign, Corerue. Could I play an Elf Wizard? I know the Elves have largely left the world but I would imagine there are a few who remain and I would imagine that those rare few are secluded scholars who watch the world through a looking glass, feeling sorry for humanity. I'll go ahead and make some rolls and when you're available, we can discuss how to fit an elf into the setting with the story you have in mind.
Intelligence + 2 = 18
Strength
Wisdom
Constitution - 2 = 12
Charisma
Dexterity + 2 = 15
Nice rolls.
|
|
@Gm Kyle: Indeed not all of them have left the world, some remained behind but most found that after the fall of the Bright Empire and the rise of so many smaller human nations. Thus the creation of near endless strife and conflict. They could no longer tolerate the ruination of their people and kingdoms and took most of the worlds natural magic with them when they traveled to worlds unknown. Same goes for a lot of the other races.
Some non-human characters may face prejudice in these hard times so if you decide to play one, bare with me. =) I won't get too crazy on you but expect some situations to be possibly very intense.
@Deiros: Indeed IK is a setting I very much low and a lot of its rules are going to be included in this world setting. As for Warjakcs... Well those will be very limited, I am picturing the very first stages of their development among the civilized races. While Cryx... Well you know Cryx. They tend to be a few steps ahead of everyone else.
None the less, I will be including most of the firearms from IK as they were balanced well enough and it will help broaden the scope of what is available in what kingdoms. They will have different names but the stats fit the kingdoms I have quite well. As I said mostly homebrew and this saves me from changing too many things in the name of adventure building. :)
@Everyone: Thanks for the encouragement and dice rolls, its nice to see my setting isn't too high fantasy for peoples tastes. As stated before I am still working on getting things ready, home life has been a little hectic but once I get started it will be easy enough to manage both Pbp and IRL stuff. =)
|
|
its nice to see my setting isn't too high fantasy for peoples tastes.
Heathen! There is no such thing as too high fantasy in a high fantasy setting.
I ended up making my own set of weapons if you want to check them out since I'm running (lame excuse since RL has me busy) a IK kind of campaign that includes warjacks or things like them.
Well best of luck you attracted quite the few interesting players and formidable GM's that I have had the pleasure to meet and even get rejected a time or two muehehe.
Good Luck all will follow this thread and game just in case RL gives me a breather.
"Oh, sure, be prejudiced against a powerful elven wizard who can manipulate the world like a child's set of building blocks. Go ahead, it will be your funeral..."
In light of my ability score array, I think a sorcerer is a more viable option. Additionally, if if I played a Sorcerer I would have to play a human. Elves don't quite have the style for the profession...
While we wait some enjoyable steam punk music
Cool cool. Glad to hear that this will be moving onto the next stage. I'll get my rolls out of the way now so I can muddle a few builds around while your setting materializes. Besides, gives me something to do during my lunch break.
Hmmm... Will gestalt PC's be considered for your campaign? High fantasy and all... :p
I've always wanted to play gestalt...
O shoot! I guess to avoid too much blowback I'll take them in order: Str, Dex, Con, Int, Wis, Cha. Cancels my plans for a bard so I'll probably gear towards a gunslinger or rogue. Rogue.
I ask gestalt in practically all homebrew games, RL or PbP. Its kind of a habit, haha. I enjoy both styles quite a bit
I guess, I'll have to do the same thing with my stats so that would give:
Str:17
Dex:14
Con:17
Int:13
Wis:18
Chr:14
Hmm.... not sure, if Corerue accepts dreamscarred press stuff, I might do a psychic warrior, if not probably a cleric.